Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we deliver songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Ashes On The Riverbank” by Thieving Irons, a self-released demo from a forthcoming album to be called This Midnight Hum.

KEXP listeners will probably recognize Nate Martinez from his part in the now-defunct band Pela, who won over a legion of fans during the past few years and appeared many times at our events and in-studios. Although a new album from the band seemed imminent in 2009, they shocked their faithful by deciding to part ways before it was released (though you can watch video of some of the songs performed acoustically here). The first to arise from Pela’s ashes is Thieving Irons, Nate Martinez’ solo project, and based on this one song that he’s made available on his website, the new album promises to be fantastic.

While Pela excelled at bighearted, nearly to the point of blustery, athemic rock (and I mean that in the best way), “Ashes On The Riverbank” shows that as a frontman Martinez prefers a more complex and melodic approach. You’d expect a guitarist to write a guitar-centric song, and based on the song’s opening measures (nearly the first full minute, actually) you wouldn’t be wrong. Quickly, though, the song fills up with a meaty bass, an old hollow-sounding piano, and eventually a distorted synth, each building an inescapable catchiness to the song layer by layer. Ultimately, the highlight is Martinez’ voice. In Pela, he occasionally but ably backed up Billy McCarthy arena-sized howl, but after listening to his assured yet plaintive vocals on “Ashes On The Riverbank,” you can’t help wonder why he didn’t more songs himself!

Because there’s not a whole lot out there about the new project just yet, I went right to the source and asked Nate a few questions about Thieving Irons:

How did you get started with your new project? Has it been something that you’ve been considering for a while?

Late last spring I started writing some new songs and I had a couple that had been lying around for a while. So I decided that I should try and record an album all on my own. After spending many years working on Pela I figured it was the perfect time. I guess it was a personal challenge too. I wasn’t sure what the end result would be but I’ve been really happy with the process and the results so far.

So far, “Ashes on the Riverbank” is the only song you’ve released. Have you written other songs? Will/do they have a similar sound?

Yeah. I decided to give this song away. It’s not something I was planning on doing but I wanted to introduce people to this music while I’m finishing up work on the actual album. The demo is something I did last summer while in the writing phase and I had Eric Sanderson [also of Pela] add some instruments. He was pretty inspired by playing drums at the time so he added drums, bass and some piano. This song will be on the album not this demo version though. The album version is a bit more panoramic as are most of the songs.

Is there any particular significance to the band name? Since you’re choosing not to go by your own name, are you considering this project to eventually be a full band?

No significance really. I like the 2 words. Thieving irons is some old 1800s slang that meant a few different things — hands, scissors, purse snatchers, etc. I think it fits with the music. There’s something with the instrumentation on this album that captures a snapshot of over 100 years of music and music instruments. My friend Mike Brown has a studio called Temperamental studios and he has an unbelievable collection of very old instruments. So we’ve got guitars from the 1800s that we recorded with, pump organs, banjolins, victrolas, quirky old organs, mixed with cheap casios, bowed saws, and random kids toys.

These instruments add a really nice sound to the songs without taking them over. I think this project will definitely evolve into a full live band. At the moment I’m planning on playing most shows as a duo with Mike. Since we both play a bunch of instruments, we figure we’ll just fill the stage with instruments, create loops and have each show be a unique experience with whatever instruments we pick up at the time.

Right now, do you play all instruments? Will there be anyone helping out on the album?

As I wrote the songs for this album, I demoed them out and ended up retaining most of the stuff I recorded in my apartment. I have this quirky, cheap casio keyboard that ends up on most of the songs. I played a lot of guitars, basses, and keyboards. As it developed I had my favorite drummer and friend, Bryan Devendorf play drums on the album. We did some recording at Saltlands in Brooklyn with my friend Jim Smith. I’ve been collaborating with Mike Brown, who I mentioned earlier. He’s added a lot to this album too. Zak Ward, from this band Son Of The Sun, lent some background vocals. Dan Brantigan played some trumpet and a synth trumpet called an EVI which sounds crazy and Soda Gardocki added some guitars and vocals. A great group of talented folks I’m proud to have on the album.

How different is it for you to take on a project by yourself? Have you done it before?

This is my first attempt taking a project on by myself and singing. I’ve sang background vocals in other bands and I’ve written songs over the years that I’ve sang. This is definitely new and it feels great.

Are you performing these songs live yet? If so, how has the response been?

I haven’t played these songs out yet. But that will change in February. My very good friend Josh Kaufman (who’s main project is Rocketship Park and he plays with Dawn Landes) and me will be doing a joint residency at Sycamore in Brooklyn. It will be the 2 of us joined by Mike Brown and each week we’ll have a rotating cast of some of our very talented friends doing different interpretations of our songs. I can’t wait.

I’d be doing Pela fans a disservice if I didn’t ask: Will we ever get to hear the final, as yet unreleased album, Arise Ye Sunken Ships?

Yes, you will. Some day the album will be released.

There you have it, folks. There are definitely things in life worth waiting for. As Nate says in the interview, he’s holding a join residency for four Thursday at Brooklyn’s Sycamore starting on February 11. New York listeners should head on down. Everyone, though, should keep tabs on Thieving Irons through its MySpace and Facebook pages, and hopefully we’ll hear a lot more from this band in the near future. For now, here’s one of three clips recorded in the studio to give you a bit more to sample — this one show’s them working on a song called “I Can Hear A Pin Drop”:

Pela at JITMAN 5/29/09
photo by Alex Crick

• Many KEXP listeners will be disheartened to learn that Pela, a particular favorite of the Morning Show’s John Richards, has called it quits. The Brooklyn band announced the end of their journey on their website this past Friday, citing “tremendous obstacles” including legal battles, band member injuries, and management and label troubles, including the loss of a potentially lucrative deal. No word yet on the fate of the band’s twice-recorded album, Arise Ye Sunken Ships, but you can listen to the songs in acoustic form as one of our recent Live Performances podcasts:

• Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space, the be all, end all album by Spiritualized, is being reissued in a collector’s and special edition — yes, those are two different editions of the album. The collector’s edition will include the original album on mini CD along with two discs of demos and alternate mixes. The special edition will house the original album and just one bonus disc, in other words special is inferior to collector (and don’t you forget it!). The new and improved discs are due November 16th.

• Athens, Georgia, has had an up and down history with music. R.E.M. and the wacky minds of the Elephant 6 collective will always light the way for bands in the college town to follow, but perhaps the birth of Supercluster will find its own mark in the town’s musical mythos. Comprised of members of Pylon, The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, and Deerhunter, the super band will release their debut, Waves, October 6th on Cloud Recordings.

• When you think of John Lennon, is the first thing that comes to mind, Goldfrapp? Perhaps it will be when you see Nowhere Boy, the upcoming film documenting Lennon’s childhood. The dance-pop group provides the score to the film, which is based on the book by Lennon’s half-sister, Julia Baird.

• J. Mascis is joining bandmaster Lou Barlow in the ‘hands in everything’ department. Mascis produces and performs on the upcoming Hush Arbors album, Yankee Reality, due October 6th via Ecstatic Peace. If you haven’t listened to the brainchild of Keith Wood by now, hopefully the involvement of Mascis will force you to.

• Grunge is coming back! Of course, by the emphasis you realize by now that I’m not talking about J. Crew and Banana Republic stocking easy fit flannel button-ups but about a book. Grunge is the new book from former Sub Pop photographer Michael Levine and features words from Thurston Moore and pictures of Seattle’s affected youth along with black and whites of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and that little known spec of popular culture, Nirvana.

• The Pavement reunion tour rumors were confirmed this week, and now the one New York City show has already quadrupled into a four night stint at Central Park’s Summerstage. The group has now confirmed performances for September 21st-24th with word making the rounds that the boys will tour the world throughout 2010 before boxing back up the Pavement name and songs and stuffing them in the attic.

• Skynyrd! The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will be on Conan tonight. There are some other great bands hitting the talkshows this week, including Arctic Monkeys, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Phoenix, Black Joe Lewis, Monsters of Folk, the collective featuring M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst. Here are the rest of the highlights:
  Monday, September 21

  Conan O’Brien: Lynyrd Skynyrd
  Late Late Show: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
  Last Call: Franz Ferdinand (R)
  Colbert Report: The Flaming Lips (R)
  Jimmy Kimmel: Matt & Kim (R)

  Tuesday, September 22

  Conan O’Brien: Monsters of Folk
  Jimmy Kimmel: Kid Cudi

  Wednesday, September 23

  Late Late Show: Arctic Monkeys

  Thursday, September 24

  David Letterman: Snow Patrol
  Jay Leno: Smokey Robinson with Joss Stone
  Jimmy Fallon: Phoenix

  Friday, September 25

  Conan O’Brien: Rodrigo y Gabriela
  Last Call: Ladyhawke

Alex Crick

• The Capitol Hill Block Party just added to the already stellar lineup Built to Spill, The Lonely Forest, Fences, KEXP favorites Pela! Also added: Wild Orchid Children, Awesome Color, and a reunion of dance party masters Sing Sing. How many more reasons do you need to get your tickets now?

• While it may be a stretch to call themselves the Monsters of Folk, it isn’t a stretch at all to put lofty expectations of the upcoming release of Jim James, M. Ward, and Conor Oberst. The trio have traveled together in many forms through the years, so the supergroup’s self-titled album, due September 22nd, should provide fans with many jaw-dropping and goosebump inducing moments — or at least 15 songs of bliss.

• Merge continues to celebrate its 20th year in existence with the recently announced release of the book, Our Noise. Written by John Cook, with help from label founders Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance as well as an introduction written by Ryan Adams, Our Noise will map the label’s beginnings while exploring its continued success. Thrown in for good measure will be artist profiles on many of Merge’s biggest and brightest, including Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Arcade Fire.

• Label anniversaries abound! Warp Records, home to a wealth of ambient, electronic, and avant releases in its 20 years of existence, is putting the finishing touches on a five disc, five 10-inch box set, Warp20. Featuring some of the label’s seminal releases and a heavy dose of unreleased material, the set also comes with a 192-page hardbound book with the artwork of every Warp release through August 2009. The set will be ready by the end of September.

• The on-again off-again rumors or a Blur reunion are definitely back on and there’s now proof! In fact, only a mere 150 people got to witness their return (their first performance in nearly a decade) at the East Anglian Railway Museum in Essex on Saturday. Four more warm-up gigs are expected before they take their act to the big stages of the world. Read the review here and enjoy this snippet courtesy of Blur themselves:

• Clear Channel and Frontline Management, in a stab to take a bit of the audience away from the personalized and homogenized satellite radio crowd, is introducing A.P.E. (Artist Personal Experience). The program promises 24-hour online radio stations produced by musicians. Beginning in the July, the inaugural stations will consist of Weezer, The Eagles, and Christina Aguilera. The stations can be heard from any local Clear Channel radio station website, will feature advertisements, and the favorite selections of the namesake artists involved.

• On the heels of last year’s Black Wooden Ceiling Opening, Phil Elverum (AKA Mount Eerie) is taking his black metal sound — kindly dubbed “black wooden” by Mr. Elverum — into the full length album spectrum with the August 18th release of Wind’s Poem.

• South African band BLK JKS are preparing to follow up their critically acclaimed Mystery EP with their full-length debut, After Robots, produced by Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis and featuring Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. You can preview a song here from the album, due September 8 on Secretly Canadian:

• For those of you who ignore Twitter (and no one blames you), you may be missing a chance of nabbing free music from your favorite musicians. A few artists have decided to spring new material on unsuspecting fans via the 140-character driven hype site, with The Raveonettes bequeathing demos to fans via the site. Not to be outdone, Roberto Lange (Prefuse 73, Savath & Savalas) has released tracks from Tuitero Roto, his latest mini-album.

• Need more free music? How about a heavy dose of early 90s computer graphics? Sub Pop is giving you both with the downloadable label mix, Cybersex.

• It’s a very slow week on the late night talk show circuit this time around. Spinal Tap are “Back from the Dead” with Conan tonight while Camera Obscura is performing songs from their beautiful new album on the Late Late Show. Thursday’s the night you really need to park it on the couch, though, as Phoenix, The Dead Weather and Metric will all be live. There are only a few other highlights and your weekend is free and clear, that is, unless you want to stay home for the Jonas Brothers on SNL.
  Monday, June 15

  Conan O’Brien: Spinal Tap
  Late Late Show: Camera Obscura
  Last Call: Doves (R 5/26/09)

  Tuesday, June 16

  Last Call: Diane Birch

  Wednesday, June 17

  Last Call: Zee Avi
  Ellen DeGeneres: Keane

  Thursday, June 18

  David Letterman: Phoenix
  Conan O’Brien: The Dead Weather
  Late Late Show: Metric
  Last Call: Peaches
  Jimmy Kimmel: Ben Harper

  Friday, June 19

  David Letterman: The Sounds
  Last Call: The Ting Tings

You’ve seen the photos and read the review, but now you can truly relive the moment through these stealth videos shot during the John In The Morning At Night show at Neumo’s last Friday of Iran, United States of Electronica, and Pela. Check ‘em out!

review by Jason Kinnard
photos by Alex Crick

My ears are still wrecked from a hot night of music at Neumo’s on Friday at the sold out John in the Morning at Night show. I’ve never left a single one of these shows disappointed and this year was no exception. In years past ,these have always been amazing shows to highlight up and coming bands, introducing us to acts such as Vampire Weekend, Maps, and Jamie T. The line-up this year was definitely intriguing when I first saw the show announced; I could only begin to imagine how a high-energy band like United States of Electronica was going to blend with a headier band like Iran and vice versa. Then again; isn’t that eclectic mix what KEXP is all about? I love the mixed bill. I don’t know why more shows aren’t like this. 

The evening started pretty much on schedule, ast the on-stage action coordinated with the live broadcast seemed to go off without a hitch. DJ Michele Myers got the party started with her infectious energy, dancing her way around the back of Neumo’s where the live broadcast station was set-up. The fact that the show was being broadcast live just seemed to add another cool element to the evening; it was almost like we were all at a secret party that everyone was trying to get into. Ha Ha, suckers! As soon as DJ Michele announced local opening act Throw Me The Statue, the place went nuts and the party was on. Alex and I were right up front for all the action!

In addition to being the hottest ticket in town, it also happened to be one of the hottest nights of the year so far in Seattle. The inside of Neumo’s quickly became a sweatbox as the crowd was just starting to fill in for local band Throw Me The Statue. This was my first time hearing the new material live and there was a lot of it that I liked: straightforward synth-pop. They sounded fantastic turned up on their brand new amps and set the bar high for the rest of the bands who were to follow. Next up was highly anticipated Brooklyn band Iran.

Iran had the most interesting stage set-up of the evening, a wooden chair in the middle of the stage next to a stand-up microphone stand and a full on rock band. I was excited to hear how the new material from Dissolver would sound live. Aaron Aites had a mesmerizing presence on-stage as he shifted from sitting to standing. Turns out the song that had me blown away though wasn’t from their new album at all but was their lead off song “We Could Go Away For a While” from their 2002 album, The Moon Boys. That was some of the sickest guitar work I’ve heard in a long time and it fit absolutely perfect with Aaron’s vocals. Hearing that right up front with the guitarist was a treat; my ears were luckily still intact at that point. They finished their short seven song set with favorites like “Buddy,” “Evil Summer,” and “I Already Know You’re Wrong” from their new album. A nice mellow set by Iran: what a perfect segue-way into Electronica.

In contrast, U.S.E brought the dance party to JITMAN. First of all, you have to respect any band that brings their own letters to a show, in this case giant white letters complete with white Christmas tree lights, letting you know the party is about to get started. U.S.E also brings their own beautiful singing/dancing girls who had no problems whipping the crowd into a frenzy as the band played their unique mix of dancey synth pop, complete with vocoder lyrics, multiple percussionists, and keyboards. It all went off without a hitch until the lead keyboard station went completely dead with only two songs left to play. The band improvised well but it didn’t help the near full capacity crowd from sweating any less. The place was dripping at this point as the stage was puddled with water and littered with empty water bottles and half empty gin & tonics. Confetti was being blasted everywhere. The band played a couple more songs to end their set and the stage was finally set for the headliner, Pela.

At this point, the crowd inside Neumo’s was packed like sardines, the place was buzzing and it wouldn’t be long before the boys from Pela took the stage. Everything and everyone was sweating at this point. We were in fact live on the air, with the clock ticking down, so luckily they don’t waste any time getting set up. John soon introduced the band and each band member gave him a giant hug before they took their spots on stage. The last time I saw Pela was at their epic 2007 KEXP BBQ appearance, so I was definitely excited to see them play again and hear some of the new songs. Anyone who saw them that day at the BBQ definitely left as a fan. One thing was for certain, Billy loves KEXP and it felt good to hear him complimenting the station and calling the city “blessed” for having it. Seattle and New York have a strange sort of connection with music, and Seattle and Pela seem to have an even stronger bond. As soon as Billy grabbed the microphone and screamed “Seattle!” the crowd roared to life and it was clear they were ready to rock. They were who everyone was here to see. This is also when I discovered not bringing earplugs was probably a bad decision. This was big anthem rock coming straight at you, right in your face. I was merely inches from the action, and not much further away from the amplifiers either. Standing in front of the fantastic guitarist Nate Martinez was a mind-blowing experience and I loved every ear numbing minute of it.  The band ripped through 14 or 15 songs of pure American rock including classics from their wonderful first album, Anytown Graffiti, and new songs like “Augustine” and “Juarez” from their upcoming album. They finished the night with a quick encore (no time to waste when it’s live on the air!) and confetti canons marked the finale as the group posed for a bow. We love you too, Pela. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.

Friday night. Neumos. John In The Morning at Night. Throw Me The Statue. Iran. U.S.E. Pela. An unbelievable lineup with a unstoppable dance party mix from DJ Michele. A full house of KEXP supporters. Words can’t describe how great the night was. But maybe these photos can from Brittney Bush Bollay:

Throw Me The Statue:

Iran:

U.S.E:

Pela:

Ron Henry

Our Summer Membership Drive starts today! We’re pretty excited to be asking you to support independent music and public radio. Your gift has such a huge impact! Not just on your ability to listen to the music you love whenever you want, but also on the musicians who create it and the wider community that benefits from it.

Brooklyn band Pela, have been huge supporters of KEXP and have performed many KEXP benefits, including tonight’s John In The Morning At Night event. The guys even brought four brand new songs to KEXP’s studio this very morning. Here are two of them, “Augustine” and “East Los Angeles”:

And the relationship is completely reciprocal. Here’s what a couple band members from Pela had to say about what KEXP means to them:

Nate:

“KEXP is an amazing connection between bands and music appreciators. I keep using the term ‘Music Soldiers.’ You guys are Music Soldiers.”

Billy:

“KEXP represents music community to me. It’s something that is really hard to find in a small town and it easily gets lost in big cities. It is incredibly rewarding to do any work with you guys because I know people are listening. I know they are listening for good reasons and I know that what you guys are doing is above and beyond. It makes me proud to be working with you guys.”

Please power KEXP today by making a gift of support! Your support makes a real difference — in your life, in the lives of the musicians you love, and in the broader community. Thank you!

Ron Henry

This Friday, May 29, KEXP presents John In The Morning At Night live from Neumos! DJs John Richards and Michele Myers host a special live broadcast featuring New York’s finest, Pela and Iran, and Seattle greats United States of Electronica (U.S.E) and Throw Me the Statue.

As they ready for their blowout performance, Billy McCarthy and Nate Martinez of Pela talked to KEXP about what they’ve been up to since last year:

KEXP: How are you guys doing?

Nate: Good.

Billy: Great, man.

Thanks for doing the event for us again. You guys have done so much for KEXP.

Nate: You guys have done so much for us!

It’s a mutual thing. I hear you have some new music.

Nate: We are pretty much done with an album that has taken a long time and we are going to play a bunch of new songs this Friday. We’ve been doing a couple shows with The Gaslight Anthem and we played a couple shows in January. Just getting back out there, playing this new material and getting it road ready.

How has the reception been?

Nate: People are digging it.

Billy: It’s exciting. It’s a lot of different experimentation. We have some new keyboards and organ and we have a new touring musician who has been helping us. I’m playing more acoustic guitar up front. And there’s some different percussion going on.

Nate: Different vocal harmonies.

Wow, sounds great. You guys are known to have sort of the big sound. I remember when you played the KEXP Barbecue and it was this epic show; it seemed like you were made for that size stage. Is the new music written with that in mind?

Billy: I think the big stuff is bigger than with Anytown Graffiti and the soft stuff is probably more intimate.

Nate: intimae but also more spacious, in a different way.

Billy: It went to the next step in both directions, I feel.

So bigger and softer!

Nate: The whole gamut.

Billy: More dynamic.

Sounds great. I remember when Anytown Graffiti came out and you played it here at KEXP on the Morning Show. John Richards was like, “We have to get those guys for the BBQ!” So that was kind of early in 2007 really. It’s been a while. Have you been working on the music for this one since then?

Billy: I am actually very proud of it. We tried to record it and we went out to California. We were staying in a hotel for almost a whole month. We tried to live in the studio and do the record quickly and we realized that it was just not our method, so we scrapped the whole record. We started over. It was a pretty courageous move.

Nate: And a huge undertaking.

Chona Kasinger

And you guys produced it yourselves, right?

Billy: Yeah, we produced it ourselves. Just after all the prep and demoing and to go in and not be happy and know that’s not where you want to be, it took a lot for us to accept that we wanted to start over. So starting over and slowly producing from that point on, really was an undertaking. We wanted to outdo ourselves.

Did you feel there was a lot of pressure to do that?

Nate: Pressure on ourselves, to want to see it through and to do it better than before, so yes, that was self-pressure.

Billy: I feel a lot of people came up to me and really had moments with me where they told me what Anytown made them think about or reflect on something in their lives and it seemed personal for fans and people who listened to the record .I just felt like I wanted them to have that experience again. I didn’t want it to fall short. It means a lot to me.

Billy, you’ve had a lot of personal things going on in your life. Is more of that reflected on this album, in the lyrics?

Billy: Yeah absolutely. There were a couple notable things, one of them being a family situation where my brother is incarcerated. He’s always been kind of a wild one, but he ended up in Folsom prison and through the process I have been trying to figure out how to talk about it. What I can say is that my brother is schizophrenic. We share the same birthday. The onset of schizophrenic happens in the early 20’s and I saw it happen and really tried everything I could. Eventually he committed a crime and he got sentenced and he is prison. He has been for four years. A lot of the songs are about that. He’s got an illness but in this country we don’t separate mentally ill people from normal folks in the penal system, and it’s actually horrible and cruel. My brother as it remains is in Folsom prison for attempted murder and he is schizophrenic and there is nothing anybody can do for him but give him state issued meds. I went to visit him in the beginning of the year, which is what kicked off the title for me of the album, Rise Ye Sunken Ships. It was sort of a tone in my family and I wanted them to be strong, and this was happening in the later part of the Bush era and I was in the hospital, I think like 40 times.

Nate: I think that’s an understatement! Wasn’t it 85?

Billy: I think we did seven studios and six hospitals this year.

Maybe you guys should start playing hospitals.

Nate: As long as he’s here!

Billy: But hopefully you’ll bear with me on the family stuff. I mean, if you listen to the record you’ll see that some of the topics are referencing all of that quite a bit. It’s going to take me some time to get comfortable with it. I had a lot of lawyers step up and try to help me with it and advocate. It’s just a really awkward part of our culture and we just don’t know what to do with our mentally ill or homeless.

It’s interesting that you should say that. For instance, when you tore the tendons in your hand you had a lot of people step up and help pay some of those medical bills and you have a lot of communication with your fans via your website. It seems like you guys are that kind of band, not that you are a forum or a platform but in a way you kind of are. You bring up issues that people want to talk about and are interested in and want to do something about.

Billy: Yeah, I am really proud of that. We’ve always been vocal and I think we always were, even before when people were talking about our shows. It’s nice to do interviews and talk about stuff and I wouldn’t run my mouth if we didn’t actually write about it and try to push those messages and those subjects out. I think another topic in the record this year is this song called “Juarez,” which is about a border town. There is incredible stuff going on at our southern border. Crazy minutemen and a lot of drug trafficking, which is really harrowing and kind of incredible. I felt like exploring it and that is another thing you will hear when you listen to the record.

Doron Gild

People who know the band realize that you are positive in a lot of ways and it’s not like “Oh, this is going to be a downer record from Pela.” I don’t even know if that is possible for you guys to do.

Billy: No, I think because times are thought but I feel like the band really loves being around each other; we really love our fans and we love making records and at this point we love producing records. It’s a good thing. Just like any other kind of life it’s got its knocks.

Nate: We’ve had our fair share in the past couple of years.

Billy: Yeah. We also switched labels and we’re going to reveal who we are going with very soon. I think coming to the end of a relationship with an independent label was kind of strange for us, for the unknown and for the fact that we had produced a record and had to pull over from touring, which is such a big part of our identity. I think there were some unsure moments but we’re feeling super excited to play songs for folks now.

Right. I mean, you guys have been pretty independent all along, releasing and producing music on your own, and I’m excited to see where you guys end up with this one. I guess, we can save that news for later.

Billy: We’re really excited to let everyone know [about the new label] and we’re just trying to wait it out a little longer.

For the show on Friday what can KEXP fans expect? New songs? Old songs? Injuries? …hopefully not.

Nate: No, no injuries!

Billy: No more broken bones!

Nate: Rock n roll. Lots of fun.

Billy: We have some surprises in store and songs people will recognize. We definitely thought about it because Seattle is super special to us so we put in some time getting a good set. Last time we were there I ended up in the emergency room, but I won’t do that again. Just a high level of rock n roll.

Nate: Epic in a different way!

And I think you went to dinner before you went to the hospital, right?

Billy: We went to dinner and we went to the bar!

Then you went to the hospital. Priorities.

Billy: And the Seattle hospital, which I have to tip my hat to, was the finest hospital. I have to say to the people of Seattle, you have one the finest hospitals I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of them!

Ron Henry

Get your tickets to John In The Morning at Night to see Pela perform new songs! Tickets are $18 presale, $20 day of. Advance tickets can be purchased at Ticketswest.com, Ticketswest Outlets, and Neumos Box Office. Proceeds benefit KEXP.